


Exhausted Mind

by twistedthursday



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 14:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4880512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twistedthursday/pseuds/twistedthursday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Inception job. Dom fell asleep and saw Mal again. What does it all mean?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exhausted Mind

_“I’m the only thing you do believe in anymore.”_

Dom closed his eyes. He made an effort to control his breaths, but that night his entire body and mind just wouldn’t relax. The living room where he sat alone in the dark was still. He didn’t hear anything. Not the ticking clock, not the wind, not the noises from the kids’ bedroom of children adjusting their sleeping positions. He could only feel his heart pounding without a certain pattern of rhythm. But then he sensed a familiar presence.

_“I miss you more than I can bear.”_

Dom opened his eyes. He was still in the same room as he was before he closed his eyes, still and dark. But he knew it too well that there was something slightly different now. The familiar presence he sensed a few moments ago got even stronger.

“How are the children?” suddenly Mal showed up from the dark and stood at the spot, which was lit by the soft moonlight. She seemed better than the last time Dom had seen her in limbo during the Inception job. There was a certain warmth about her now, which she lost from herself long ago right before she committed suicide.

Dom noticed that. And somehow he was not too surprised to find himself there with her again after what had happened just a while ago. “The children are fine. They’re just glad to see me again. I’m glad that they’re glad,” answered him softly.

“That’s good,” she smiled. He just looked at her. There was a slight pause between them.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Dom quickly stood up. He wandered around the room and then stopped, took a deep breath, and turned around to face her. “Why again, Mal? I thought I made it clear before that I can’t stay with you,” the pain he felt before when confronting her in limbo was crawling back inside of him.

Mal just looked at him. Not with the accusing look she had before the limbo incident, but with sympathy. “I know that,” she said shortly.

“Then what the hell are you doing here?”

_“Because in my dreams we’re together.”_

“It’s not me that wanted to be here. It’s you.”

“Please, don’t you turn this on me. I’m not the one who couldn’t tell which is reality and which is not.”

“You weren’t. It was me. But don’t you remember? I’m not really here anymore. You, on the other hand, are.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

She sighed. “Dom, please go back.”

He didn’t understand what she just said. He didn’t even understand how he could possibly end up there.

“I’m not worth the suffering you have to go through. I’m just a shade. I’m not worth your pain,” she continued.

“But I’ve let you go. I’ve moved on. I’ve—“

Suddenly his breaths got heavy. His heartbeat was uncontrollable. His hands started to sweat. His knees weakened. The vision of Mal standing in front of him got blurry.

He fell to the floor.

_“We had our time together.”_

Dom opened his eyes. He was back at his real living room. Although, he wasn’t alone anymore as so many questions became his companions. _Was that a dream?_ He couldn’t tell. _Is Mal coming back?_ He wasn’t sure. _What was she trying to say to him?_ He had no slightest idea.

One thing he knew for sure, his mind was exhausted.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written in September 2010.


End file.
